Fall Holiday

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

President Washington declared the first national day of Thanksgiving in 1789. He sent the following, along with the proclamation, to the Governors of the United States:

“I do myself the honor to enclose to your Excellency a Proclamation for a general Thanksgiving which I must request the favor of you to have published and made known in your State in the way and manner that shall be most agreeable to yourself.”